ately cease struggling when held in this position. An-other approach is to place the ferret in dorsal recum-bency, using one hand to hold the scruff of its neck andthe other hand to hold its pelvic limbs and pelvis andthen straightening the ferret’s body. In addition tophysically restraining fractious ferrets, offering them asmall amount of preferred pet food (Prescription Diet
®
a/d; Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Topeka, KS), Nutrical
®
(EvscoPharmaceuticals, Buena Vista, NJ), or chicken baby food on a tongue depressor (held rostral to the nose)often distracts the animal during certain procedures,such as jugular or cranial vena caval venipuncture.Various chemical restraint protocols (Table I) canalso be used for domestic ferrets. Isoflurane and a ket-amine–benzodiazepine combination are the most com-mon anesthetics used. Advantages of using sedationmust be weighed against the potential complicationsthat can occur in compromised patients. The rapid in-duction, recovery, and controlled depth of anesthesiamake isoflurane an excellent choice for many critically ill ferrets. Inhalation anesthetics should be administeredto ferrets using a nonrebreathing system. Becauseisoflurane reduces the number of circulating erythro-cytes via splenic sequestration in ferrets, this agentshould be used with caution in severely anemic ani-mals.
1–3
Isoflurane administration to domestic ferrets isassociated with substantial decreases in arterial bloodpressure. At 1.0 minimum alveolar concentration, themean arterial pressure of ferrets is less than 60 mm Hg.Thus the degree of hypotension is dose related.
4
DIAGNOSTICSPhlebotomy
Because ferrets have small superficial vessels andtough skin, phlebotomy becomes more challengingthan it is in other companion animals. In ferrets, phle-botomy sites include the cephalic vein, lateral saphe-nous vein, femoral vein, jugular vein, cranial vena cava,and ventral tail artery.
5–7
Small (0.1- to 0.3-ml) samplesof blood can be withdrawn from the cephalic or lateralsaphenous vein similar to the same procedure used indogs and cats. Small needles (25 to 30 gauge) and sy-ringes (0.5 to 1.0 ml) are recommended for these sites.Because withdrawing samples from the cephalic veinlikely precludes subsequent catheterization of the vessel,veterinarians should consider whether the cephalic veinmay be needed to administer fluids or medication. Withdrawing blood from the jugular vein is more com-mon for larger sample volumes. The jugular vein has anarrow diameter and is superficial. This vein can beeasily traversed when inserting a needle; thus bending itat an angle of 20˚ to 30˚ can facilitate venipuncture.Blood can also be collected from the cranial venacava; fractious ferrets may require general anesthesia. A 1-inch, 22-gauge needle on a 3- or 5-ml syringe shouldbe used to collect blood from this vessel. The ferret
Compendium
May 2000Small Animal/Exotics
CHEMICAL RESTRAINT
I
ISOFLURANE
I
BLOOD COLLECTION
TABLE IChemical Restraint Agents for Domestic Ferrets
ProtocolDose and Route of Administration
Acepromazine0.1–0.3 mg/kg
29
IMIsoflurane2% to 3% in O
2
1 L/min, 3% to 3.5% in O
2
induction, 0.5% to 2.5% in O
2
maintenanceKetamine10–20 mg /kg
8
IM, short duration; 30–60 mg/kg
8
IM Xylazine1 mg/kg
8
SC, IMKetamine–diazepam10–20 mg/kg ketamine,1–2 mg/kg diazepam
7
IM; 25–35 mg/kg ketamine, 2–3 mg/kgdiazepam
30
IMKetamine–midazolam 20–30 mg/kg ketamine, 0.2 mg/kg midazolam IMKetamine–acepromazine10–30 mg/kg ketamine, 0.05–0.3 mg/kg acepromazine
29
SC, IMKetamine–xylazine25 mg/kg ketamine, 2 mg/kg xylazine
31
IM; 30 mg/kg ketamine, 0.3 mg/kgxylazine
31
IMKetamine–medetomidine5 mg/kg ketamine, 0.08 mg/kg medetomidine
32
IMTiletamine–zolazepam12–22 mg/kg each
33
IM
Reversal Agents
Yohimbine0.5 mg/kg
8
IM Atipamazole0.4 mg/kg
32
IMNaloxone0.04–0.1 mg/kg
8
SC, IM, IC
IC
= intracardiac;
IM
= intramuscularly; O
2
= oxygen;
SC
= subcutaneously.
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